Tablet for indelible-ink marking



(No-Model.)

, W. A. WEED.

TABLET FOR INDELIBLE INK MARKING.

Patented Dec. 18, 1888.

NITED STATES W'ILLIAM A. FEED, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

PATENT OEEIcE.

TABLET FOR lNDELlBLE-INK MARKING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,896, dated December 18, 1888.

Application filed July 25, 1888.

To all whom it may concern} Be it known that I, \VILLIAM A. IVEED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Tablets for Indclible Ink Marking, of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists more particularly in an improvement upon the indelible-ink apparatus secured to me by Letters Patent No. 179,7 4:8, and has for its principal objects, first, to provide a lightand durable construction of tablet which shall be free from warping or chipping and which may be subject to c011- siderable rough usage without impairing the requisite sl'noothness of the surface whereon the fabric that is to be marked is stretched; secondly, to retain the stretching-band upon the tablet in a way whereby slip of the fabric is prevented anda more perfect stretching of the fabric insured, and, finally, to provide certain improved details of construction serving to increase the general utility and serviceability of the article.

In a tablet characterized by my present invention the body of the tablet is formed of sheet metal and adapted to contain a set of longitudinally-arranged compartments of different depths, which said compartments are formed by a thin sheet-metal partition bent as hereinafter set forth. The receptacle thus formed with a set of compartments is closed by a sheet-metal cover, which, while forming a top for the hollow tablet when the sameis not in use for writing purposes, constitutes a bottom which rests upon a table or thelike when a piece of fabric is stretched upon the tablet. The stretching-band is struck up from sheet metal and the body of the tablet is provided with ribs or like projections over which the band can be forced, so that it will snap upon the body of the tablet. These ribs, while serving effectively to hold the stretching-band in place, also permit the band to stretch the fabric with greater certainty. The construction of band also involves a certain spring action, as hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents the tablet in the position it is to occupy when in use, the stretching band being shown de- Serial No. 281,043. (No model.)

tached from the tablet. Fig. 9 represents a section taken transversely through the tablet with a piece of fabric stretched over the same and held in place by the stretching-band. 3 represents the tablet inverted from its position in the preceding figures and having the cover partially open.

The body of the tablet A consists of arectangular sheet-metal case, whereof its four sides slope inwardly and unite with the smooth metal bottom a, which, when the article is in use, constitutes the top of the tablet and affords a bed over which the portion of the fabric which to be written upon is stretched. This case or hollow sheet-metal tablet is provided with a sliding sheet-metal cover, a, and as a means for holding the cover in connection with the body a the latter is flanged along its edge, as at a, and the cover is provided along its opposite longitudinal edges with bent lips a, adapted to engage the oppositely-arranged flanged portions of the body, as in Fig. 2.

The hollow sheet-metal tablet contains a sheet-metal false bottom or partition, 13, which is bent to provide it with several deep corrugations, which, however, are of unequal depths, thereby providing the deeper middle compartment, l), for an ink-bottle, and two shallower side compartments, 1), respectively, for a pen and a pen-holder.

The stretching-band U is struck up from sheet metal and is adapted to be, snapped upon the body of the tablet, as in Fig. 2. To permit the stretching-band to be thus snapped upon the body of the tablet, said tablet-body is provided with longitudinal ribs a and transversely-arranged end ribs, ai, although the end ribs could, if desired, be omitted, in which way, when the band is applied to the tablet-body and forced down upon the same, it will ride over the ribs and then snap upon the tabletbody.

\Vhen a piece of fabric is placed over the tablet-body and the stretching-baml is applied, the band in passing over the ribs will bottom, and as soon as the band passes such ribs it will snap upon the tablet-body and securely hold the fabric thereon. The band corresponds to the shape of the tablet-body,

tightly stretch the fabric upon the writing Ioo buthas one edge bent inwardly, as at c, and then flared outwardly, as at c. This bent edge portion of the band constitutes a spring edge portion, and as a means for permitting it to have the desired sprin action the rectan gular band is notched. at its corners, as at thereby leaving it with spring edge portions which, when drawn over the ribs, will snap upon the tablet-body and effectively hold the fabric thereon. The band thus provided with a spring edge portion is desirably flanged along its opposite edge, as at so that when applied its flange may rest upon and hold down the fabric, as in Fig. 2.

Vhile I regard the partition or false metal bottom B, bent as hereinbefore described, as the preferred way of providing compartments Within the tablet-case, I do not for the broader purposes of my invention confine myself to such construction. I also desire to be understood as not limiting myself to a sheet-metal case so far as the provision of the same with ribs is concerned, since the same can be made of papier-mach or compressed Wood or fiber or other suitable substance adapted for forming a light and sufficiently strong case.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is- 1. A tablet for the purpose described, hav

ing its body portion provided with ribs and having a removable band adapted to pass over the ribs and snap upon the tablet-body, substantial] y as set forth.

2. The herein-described tablet A, comprising the sheet-metal body having a bottom, a, for the purpose set forth, a cover, and a set of longitudinally-arranged compartments of different depths, substantially as described.

The tablet provided with a removable band having spring edge portions, as and for the purpose described.

WILLIAM A. 'WEEI.)

Witnesses:

CHAS. G. PAoE, L. L. PAGE. 

